How to Get the Best of London on a Budget with Kids! Part II

There’s no shortage of things to do in London with kids especially if you’re on a budget; there’s hundreds of free things to do like London’s amazing museums - the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, National Maritime Museum, and Ragged School Museum - where you can learn all about Victorian school days, and my personal favourite  - the Imperial War Museum - amongst a shed load of others.

There’s also a whole host of parks with perks such as Victoria Park with its giant slides, or St James’s Park where every day at 2.30pm you can see the parks pelicans being fed fresh fish. You can even go to the zoo for free at Golders Hill Park Zoo. Not forgetting a free visit to the iconic landmarks or a visit to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. All this coupled with the fact that children under 11 travel free on London’s public transport means it’s one of the most pocket friendly cities to visit on a budget with kids.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do any of the above as we only had one full day in London so the children picked what they wanted to do before we’d even left Ireland. Read on to find out where we went, how much we paid and how I got on with 4 kids under 9 on my own!

Stamford Bridge

My 9 year old daughter Orla is Chelsea mad so no trip to London would be complete without a trip to Chelsea F.C.’s home ground, Stamford Bridge. I priced it on their website and it would cost me £19/€22 per adult & £13/€15.06 per child under 5’s admitted free of charge. For walk-up tickets on the day you visit add £3/€3.48 per adult and £2/€2.32 per child. I set about searching online to find a better deal and I found one on Virgin Experience Days website, £16/€18.53 for 2 adults so I purchased two of these offers. Unfortunately you need a UK address to book these so I sent them to my Sister-in-Law BattleMum, who kindly forwarded them on to me. Instead of it costing me £58/€67.19 it cost me just £32/€37.07; a great saving for just a few minutes research. On their website they advise there is a limit of three children per adult admitted to the stadium, but nothing was said to me when I asked for 1 adult 3 children and an under 5’s free ticket at reception.

Getting there was really easy - we used the tube and alighted at Fulham Broadway, a 3 minute walk from the stadium. As we approached the grounds a friendly staff member approached us and gave us free Chelsea scratch cards, and we won some great prizes like free audio guides for the museum, 10% off merchandise in the shop and a free guide book.

Included in your admission price is a guided tour of the stands, home and away dressing rooms, the press room, the tunnel, and the dug out with a self guided tour of the Chelsea F.C. Museum. All I could hear from Orla as we walked through the stadium was ‘awesome’ constantly repeated - suffice to say she loved every minute! The prices and products in the shop were fantastic, so much so we left with 5 bags on our backs full of branded merchandise such as socks that cost £1 a pair, pens for school £1.50, t-shirts £5, jacket £8, school bag £8, goalie gloves £5 - the list goes on!

Tower of London

We had watched a couple of documentaries on the history of the British Royals and the Crown Jewels in anticipation of our trip, so the children were really excited about visiting. None more so than Aoife - aged 9 - who brought a pink silk rose for her favourite Queen Anne Boleyn; she’s always had a fascination with the British Queens since she was tiny particularly the second wife of King Henry VIII.

There are oodles of things to do with children at the Tower of London such as a children’s activity trail, historical re-enactments, an audio guide with five different tours, children’s White Tower tour, Raven Master talks and lots more.

As it was raining when we visited we opted for the guided tour which commences every half hour. A Yeoman Warder - commonly known as a Beefeater - greeted us at the gate and brought us directly to the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula (St. Peter in chains) where he conducted the twenty minute tour indoors. 

My four little ones were mesmerised and hung on every word, especially Aoife when he pointed out Anne Boleyn’s resting place at the altar. As we departed the chapel the Beefeater advised us that Aoife could lay her rose at the point of execution on Tower Green as there’s now a monument there. We then joined the short queue to see the Crown Jewels; we’ve no pictures as photography is prohibited inside the building that houses the jewels. 

There were a lot of ooh’s and aah’s uttered from my children as we moved from one exhibition to another viewing some of the finest stones I’ve ever seen - of course none being finer than my 5 little Stones!

Have you ever heard of the Ceremony of the Keys? It’s the oldest ceremony of its kind in the world carried out every evening for the last 700 years without fail. Essentially it’s a 35 minute ceremony to mark the locking up of the Crown Jewels and the Tower of London with as much flounce as possible. 

Tickets are free but have a £1 booking fee and must be booked in advance online. They sell like hot cakes and are already sold out until March 2017. Just a word of warning though, it’s illegal to sell tickets that you’ve booked online or buy from any other source. You must be at the main gate at 9.30pm precisely and produce ID along with your tickets to gain entry; photography is prohibited throughout the ceremony.

For our visit I couldn’t book tickets online as they had issues with their website, so I had to call to avail of the discounted website prices. I paid £37.50/€43.44 for a family ticket - 1 adult and three children aged 5-15 - and children under 5 years old are admitted free of charge. Gate prices are slightly higher; you can also opt to give a voluntary contribution towards the upkeep of Historical Palaces which I declined.

Lunch in London

Photo Credit to A Girl has to Eat!

At this stage it was lashing rain so we bolted across the road to 'The Liberty Bounds', a Wetherspoons pub for lunch. It’s a lovely pub serving hearty pub grub at great prices which suited us perfectly. I paid £40/€46.34 for drinks and a selection of dishes for us to share, as the children couldn’t decide what they wanted to eat.

Sky Garden

Sky Garden is London’s highest public garden spanning three floors atop 20 Fenchurch Street. It’s just a 5 minute walk from Tower of London; you can see the building towering over the landscape so you don’t even need to ask directions. Consisting of two bars, two restaurants, a private dining room, immaculate landscaped gardens, an observation deck, and an open air terrace Sky Garden offers the best unhindered views of the City of London and beyond on a clear day.

I had visited Sky Garden with Sue in April when we got some lovely photos from the open air terrace on the 35^th floor, but when I visited with the children the terrace was closed due to inclement weather. Tickets are completely free but must be booked online in advance. They have a policy of only 3 children permitted per adult so I had to book one of my children as an adult and I’m glad to say we didn’t have any problems when we arrived. 

Before you can gain entry you must have your booking details and adults must produce some form of ID such as a passport (photocopy is acceptable), ID card, drivers licence or a bank card, and children under 18 do not need to provide any ID.

London Eye

This really is a spectacular way to view London, spending 30 minutes revolving slowly so you’ve plenty of time to see and capture a photo everything on London’s skyline. I particularly liked the addition of the 4D movie which wasn’t there when I last visited, many moons ago. 

All four of my children loved it, and  Seamus was thrilled to see Big Ben from so high up. There are lots of ticket packages available so you can save by bundling other attractions with your London Eye ticket which I’d highly recommend it for an adult’s only visit, but unfortunately it’s simply priced too highly for me to recommend this to families.

I received one adult and one child ticket free of charge for our visit to the Coca-Cola London Eye. I paid for two children as under 4’s are free, and I didn’t pre book the tickets online so I paid the on-the-day price of £18.95/€21.95 per child, which was a total of £37.90/€43.90. You can avail of a 15% discount by booking in advance online. 

   

That was our full day in London grabbing the best bits in a few short hours. Do you recommend anything for us to do on our next visit?

Drop back next week when I’ll tell you all about our visit to Highclere Castle - known to millions as Downton Abbey!

How to Get the Best of London on a Budget with Kids!

Well hello there and welcome back to our budget family road trip across the UK! So far we’ve driven over 300 miles in 3 different countries, just four of my children (aged 9,9,8 & 4) & I. We visited Legoland Windsor (HERE) which is one of my most popular posts to date and Warner Bros. Studios home of Harry Potter (HERE), both posts have a moxy load of tips on how you can do them too. 

This week I’ll tell you about the second hotel we stayed in, closer to central London and what we got up to in the hopes it inspires one of you to take trip to London with your kids. Harry Potter Studios took us just over four hours so when we were finished we hopped in our hire car and headed straight to our hotel to check-in.

Where to Stay in London with Kids

There were a few factors in deciding where we stayed. I didn’t want central London so I could avoid the congestion charge as we had a hire car. I wanted somewhere that didn’t charge a fortune in parking fees, did you know that some places charge up to £50/€57.82 for 24 hours parking?! I needed a hotel that was on budget and had public transport links.

I chose Travelodge Kew Bridge just around the corner from Kew Gardens as it had everything I needed. I paid £142.80/€165 for 2 nights B&B and booked us in as 2 adults and 2 children. Parking onsite cost £6/€6.94 for 24 hours or a discounted rate of £15/€17.35 for 3 days.

The hotel itself is very basic, the reception area is just a desk and a vending machine but it does its job perfectly well. Our room was spotless with a double and two single beds overlooking a church next door that was being renovated but we weren’t disturbed by the noise. We were pleasantly surprised by the breakfast; it consisted of a full English breakfast served buffet style with lots of other options available such as cold meats, fresh fruit and cereal. The staff were really friendly and chatty in the restaurant, they were so helpful offering assistance to my little ones.

How to get around

There’s a train station a 10 minute walk from the hotel but I wanted a tube station so we hopped on the very frequent number 65 bus literally at the foot of the steps outside our hotel for a 10 minute journey to Kew Gardens Victoria Gate bus stop then a 2 minute walk to the Kew Gardens Tube Station. From here we took the District line to central London only 15 minutes away.

Stone Travel Tip: You need an Oyster Card to travel on a bus in London; luckily I still had mine from a previous visit, any credit left on it doesn’t expire. You can order one online or buy them at most tube stations.

Children under the age of 11 can travel free on all Tube, DLR, London Overground and Tfl Rail services so I was just paying for one adult. When using an Oyster Card all journeys are capped at £6.40/€7.40 so even if you make 20 journeys you’ll only be deducted £6.40/€7.40 from your Oyster Card, making public transport in London with kids cheap as chips.

What to do with 3 hours in London

As I mentioned at the start we had finished our tour of Harry Potter Studios and checked into our hotel where we found ourselves at 5pm wondering what we could do. I didn’t particularly want to just stay in the hotel but I was also mindful that I was on my own with 4 kids whom I wanted to get to bed a reasonable time. 

A quick check of google maps and we were on our way out the door. We caught the District Line Tube to Earl’s Court where we hopped off, I didn’t tell the kids where we were going and they were shocked when we walked out of the station to find a real life Tardis in front of them. My daughters are crazy about Dr Who so they were thrilled to see it; we took a few photos before getting back on the district line to Embankment station.

I surprised them with a visit to Sherlock Holmes Pub and Restaurant on Northumberland Avenue. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed for a party so we ate dinner in the bar area. They love Sherlock Holmes and the bar was crammed full of memorabilia. They all devoured fish and chips from the kids menu costing £4.95/€5.72 each and I had a burger and chips costing £13.95/€16.13, to be honest my burger wasn’t the best at all but the chips were lovely.

We strolled the 5 minutes back to Embankment Tube Station but I brought my kids a few steps further and up onto one of the Golden Jubilee footbridges because they have fabulous views over some of the most iconic sights in London such as the London Eye and Big Ben which makes for a perfect photo opportunity. 

Check back next week where I’ll tell you all about our jam packed day out in London including visits to Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea F.C., Tower of London to see the crown jewels, Sky Garden and the London Eye.

Have you been to London with little ones? Any tips? 

Lavish London for Very Little Lolly!

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Before I tell you all about our UK shenanigans I want to take a minute to thank every single one of you that nominated me for the Bloggers' Choice Awards this weekend. I was blown away to bring home Travel Blogger of the Year (!!) & honestly can't thank everyone enough. I've been travelling for years both luxury trips with Sue & budget adventures with our little ones and I only ever began blogging because I wanted to share our stories in the hope that some of you could do exactly the same - to be recognised for a labour of love is beyond humbling. You're all bloody legends. Thank you xx

Now - To London!

If you’ve been watching our Snapchat stories (@StoneTravel for me & @ItsCherrSue for herself) you’d have seen that we were recently in London as my birthday gift for Sue. As you know by now, we don't do things by halves when it comes to experiences but we certainly do things by halves, if not better when it comes to living it up without breaking the bank. Today I’m going to tell you how you too can enjoy a lavish weekend in London for very little lolly.

Flights:

First up were the flights, I’ve written a post about the 5 major airports in London and the amount of time and cash it takes to get to central London from each of them; you'll find that HERE. For these reasons I’ll always choose Heathrow when I can as it’s on the tube line.

The only stumbling block is that flights from Dublin to Heathrow can be very expensive. The best way to ensure you’re getting a great deal is to use Skyscanner. In January I set up an alert with Skyscanner for flights from Dublin to Heathrow (you can do the same for any destination). Nine weeks before we wanted to fly I was sent an e-mail to advise me the price of our flights had dropped to just €101.50 per person including all taxes and charges with British Airways.

As it was our first flight with British Airways I didn’t realise you receive complimentary drinks and snacks on board. Not only are they complimentary they are also very generous to boot. The air hosts & hostesses were some of the most pleasant we've ever flown with, our journey was entirely effortless, start to finish. A short 45 minute flight and a couple of rounds later we arrived in Heathrow relaxed and ready for the weekend.

Getting Around:

The cheapest and easiest way to travel in London is on the Tube using an Oyster Card. You can buy an Oyster card before you go HERE and have it delivered to your house costing £3 plus postage and the amount you wish to top it up by. Alternatively you can buy one in most tube stations at a cost of £5 deposit. Credit on an Oyster Card never expires so you can keep it for your next trip to London. 

You can also buy a Day Travelcard but they work out much more expensive at £12.10 per day whereas with an Oyster Card travel is capped at £6.50 per day between zones 1& 2. Using a paper ticket Heathrow to London City Centre costs £6pp each way, using an Oyster Card costs £5.10 during peak times and £3.10 off peak.

Hotel:

I find London the same as New York, insofar as trying to find the elusive decent hotel in the City at a decent price but I think we’ve finally cracked London! While searching expedia.ie I found the Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington. It’s part of the Millennium Hotels Group consisting of over 100 hotels worldwide. The Copthorne Tara is located just a short stroll from High Street Kensington Tube station. It’s literally right behind the station itself, though you can barely make out the sound of the trains.

This 4* hotel is exactly what we’ve been looking for as it has everything on our checklist; location, price and amenities including two restaurants, two bars, a café and even a gift shop. We paid €298.47 through Expedia for a superior room with free WiFi, room only, 2 nights for 2 adults sharing. The option was available to book the room on a B&B basis but it was priced at €664.10, that’d be some breakfast! Breakfast in the hotel is priced at £17pp they also have a takeout breakfast in the café with a great array of choice, priced at £4.95.

Where to Eat:

On a previous visit to London we had found a Whole Foods in Kensington, we really wanted to return so we decided we’d buy breakfast there on Saturday morning. It’s amazing the sheer amount of fresh wholesome food available, it’s actually too much when you’re hungry as we couldn’t decide what we wanted for breakfast! We opted for smoothies and fresh fruit salads; while we were looking for somewhere to sit and eat we stumbled upon Roadster California Burger in Kensington. The lure of American pancakes was too much for us so with our healthy food on the seat beside us we tucked into a scrumptious breakfast. CherrySue had a pancake stack with sausages and bacon while I had an egg white omelette with cheese, bacon and tomato. Our bill came to a very reasonable total of £17.50, including our drinks. 

Garlic Bites & Spiked Lemonades in Bella Italia

Bella Italia on Leicester Square was where we had dinner on Saturday night, one starter, two pasta dishes and two cocktails cost just under £45 not bad for central London. The service was incredibly slow, with other guests leaving mid-meal but our waiter explained that they were in the middle of an entire revamp. I'm guessing give them a week or so and they'll be top notch. 

Jamie's Empire Chicken ~ You HAVE to try this!

Lunch on Sunday was Jamie’s Union Jacks in Covent Garden, I’d forgotten just how unbelievably tasty his Empire Chicken with Bombay Potatoes was. It’s a dish I’ll definitely be making again soon; his recipe is available online HERE. We paid just under £50 for a spread of two portions of Empire Chicken, sides of bread & coleslaw topped off with a couple of beers. Jamie’s Secret Basement Bar looks fantastic; unfortunately the bar wasn’t open when we visited but we'll definitely pop back.

Where to Drink:

Sue had a couple of meet ups planned for us while we were in London, for one of those we chose Chiquito Leicester Square. Cocktails start at £6.95 but are reduced to £5 during happy hour. We had a couple of pitchers of cocktails and paid £20.95 per pitcher. Chiquito has a lovely al fresco dining area where it’s great to sit and people watch over Leicester square.

The Zoo Bar & Club on Leicester Square is a lively bar that gets packed to the rafters during happy hour 5pm – 9pm where all drinks are half price including pitchers of cocktails. Be warned though it’s very dark inside, it’s one of those places that I don’t think I’d like to see it with the full lights on. Having said that they have a seating area outside where we enjoyed a pitcher of Sex on the Beach for the bargain price of £9.25.

I didn’t say anything to Sue (world’s biggest gin lover!) as I wanted to surprise her with a trip to Holborn Dining Room located in the 5* Rosewood London Hotel just beside Holborn Tube station. With over 14 thousand Gin and Tonic combinations Holborn Dining Room is London’s largest Gin bar. As we were seated we were given a menu containing their Gin Specials while we were having a look and deciding the barman came over and presented us with their full Gin menu, or rather a book (or bible according to Sue) that’d take you all day to read! 

He was so friendly and helpful giving us lots of advice and recommendations, he even set up a Gin tasting for us. Sue decided to choose his recommendation of Bloom Gin with cardamom, chamomile and lemon, while I opted for a Jinzu; a British Gin with a Japanese twist finished off with a shiso leaf and cherry blossom. Our bill totalled £27.50, which was very reasonable for a 5* experience.

What to see:

The view from the Sky Garden

My top tip for visiting London would be to book a free one hour visit to Sky Garden so you can enjoy uninterrupted 360° views across the City of London taking in the Thames, Tower Bridge, The Shard, The London Eye and everything else London has to offer. There are two restaurants and two bars in Sky Garden if you wish to have a drink, snack or something more substantial; pre booking is advised for the restaurants.

The Shard also has amazing views of London from a higher vantage point on the other side of the Thames but you’ll pay £30.95pp for the privilege. Tickets for Sky Garden are dated and timed; you must also produce photographic ID to gain entry. We were late arriving but luckily we were still granted admission, to be honest we didn’t need the full hour but the views really are spectacular. We booked our free visit HERE.

West End Shows:

We always try to take in a West End show when in London, this time was no different. On Saturday afternoon we found ourselves in a tickets booth just off Leicester Square asking for recommendations for a matinee show. Sue really wanted to see The Book of Mormon but unfortunately tickets were priced at £170 each also they were nearly sold out meaning they didn’t have two seats sitting together. We eventually decided to take in two shows as we couldn’t decide which to choose.

Being Fancy AF at Kinky Boots

Kinky Boots, a six time Tony award winning show was the matinee we chose and it was fantastic; a real feel good musical with toe tapping tunes by Cyndi Lauper. The musical tells the story of Charlie Price who inherits his father’s ailing shoe factory in Northampton, he tries everything he can to save the factory for his employees. Charlie meets Lola a drag queen and they hit upon the idea to make boots for drag queens as there is a gap in the market for that demographic. Based on a true story, Kinky Boots takes you through highs and lows but leaves you wanting more as you leave the theatre. If you get to see just one show this year make it Kinky Boots, we paid £41 each for our tickets (& £6.50 each for our posh lollies). 

Based on recommendations we decided to see Showboat on Saturday night. Showboat is set in 1887 and spans 40 years telling the stories of performers, stagehands and dock workers of the Cotton Blossom, a show boat that sailed on the Mississippi River. This musical was originally written in 1927 and gave us classic songs such as “Ol, Man River” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man”. The stage was impressive and very well planned out. I loved the caramel bass tones of Joe singing “Ol, Man River”. I could have listened to him all night. 

No matter your tickets you'll get a great view of the stage for Showboat!

Unfortunately the ending just didn’t ring true for me & I've a feeling it may be rewritten. Still, as an evening out it was really enjoyable. We paid £21 each for our tickets as it's still in preview stages.

As ever, we had an absolute ball in London town. We're over very often so will definitely be visiting a couple of these spots again & no doubt staying in the Copthorne Tara again but tell us, anywhere we missed? 

How to Get Into Central London from 'London' Airports ~ Stansted, Gatwick, Luton, Heathrow & London City!

There’s nothing quite like that feeling you get when you click “book” on a rock bottom priced flight that you’ve found after hours of trawling the internet; by the same token there is nothing as bad as that sinking feeling when you arrive at your destination airport to realise to get to the city centre will cost you the same price as your flight and in some cases double the price again. Today I’m going to give you the low down on exactly how much it’ll cost you to get to central London from London’s 5 major airports.

Last Minute Mother's Day Breaks that Won't Break the Bank!

I get that March has crept up on most of us, even that Mother's Day was even more stealthy this year but fear not, you're not too late for getting a special Mother’s day surprise for your Mam. How about a few days away that won’t break the bank? You might even take the trip with her. Who said anything about a bowling ball gift? Not me!

I've come up with some belters for Mothering Sunday that will ensure you hold on to top sibling spot in your Mammy's affections:

Shop till you drop in Birmingham

You can bag flights with Aer Lingus for just €81.98pp, flying out Monday March 16th returning Wednesday March 18th. Then it’s just a short hop on the train into Birmingham New Street from the Airport. The Bull Ring has over 160 shops to choose from, so you’re bound to find something you want/need! 

If you want to stay right across the road from the Bull Ring so you don’t have to lug your shopping around with you, then I recommend the cheap as chips Travelodge Central Birmingham prices start at just €118 for 2 nights B&B for 2 people on amoma.com. That’s flights & 2 nights B&B for less than €300 for you & your Mam. Or you could push the boat out & book the Radisson Blu in Birmingham for €312 for 2 nights B&B.

London, West End Show

How about 3 nights in London with your Momma dearest so you can take in a West End show? Aer Lingus have flights to London Heathrow for €127.97pp Saturday 14th March to Tuesday 17th March.

I found a great centrally located Apartment to rent through ebookers.ie, just a 10 minute walk to Earls Court tube station. Go Native- Earls Court London has a rate of €261.78 for a one bedroom apartment for 3 nights for 2 people.

If you wait till after 6pm, go to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square where you’ll get discounted tickets for West End shows that night. You could also have a look at a previous post I wrote about London with info on some swanky bars, to treat your Mam to a cocktail or two! 

READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE

Dublin's Fair City

If funds can’t stretch that far or you’d prefer just to do one night away (I know with my Mam 1 night is sometimes more than enough!), The Castleknock Hotel & Country Club is the one for you. They have a fantastic Spring Evening Package at the moment which includes 1 night B&B for 2 people, a 4 course meal in their Brasserie Restaurant, full use of the leisure centre and 10% off spa treatments. All this for just €69pp, bargain, I think I might just book this one for myself!

Tell us, are you up to owt exciting this weekend? Will you be printing this and sticking it to the fridge in plain view of your kids/hubbie? Not that we'd condone that type of behaviour but DO IT! 

London Calling - Things to See & Do in the Bigger Schmoke!

If you were watching our Instagram feeds (Mine & Sue's) over the last few days you would have seen that we jetted off to London for some rest & relaxation, but when we got there we did anything but!!

Up, up & away

We flew Ryanair & would you believe they are a hell of a lot better than they ever were? Who Knew?! 

I had sworn a long time ago, never again. It seems all the time they spent doing market research has paid off. Gone are the quaking knees as you queue up hoping & wishing your bag will fit into the cardboard sizer that they used to march up & down the queue with, randomly picking out people to measure. 

Many a time I used to say a silent prayer & promise that I’d never again pack as much if I could get through this time!! Did you know you can now take a handbag and your carry on case? We couldn’t believe it as people were allowed on with a wheelie case, backpack & a duty free bag. Gone is the scrum for seats too, as now all seats are allocated. You don’t even have to bother joining the humongous queue at the airport, just sit & wait for the queue to join you & hop on the end. Glorious.

The London Underground (tube)

First things first, the best way to travel in London is the tube. You can buy all day passes in the stations that are £8.90 for zones 1-6. That's pretty much everywhere in central London. Grab a tube map while you're there & pretty soon you’ll be jumping from the Bakerloo line to the Northern Line like a pro to get to where you want to go!

The Bentley, Kensington, London

As it was my birthday treat CherrySue splashed out on one of the most opulent hotels in London. The Bentley Hotel is in a fabulous location in Kensington, just a hop, skip & jump from Gloucester Road tube station. It’s one of the only hotels in city with an authentic Turkish bath. Unfortunately we had too much to see & do so we didn’t get a chance to try it out (this time)!

Selfridges Restaurant on the roof with Q

There are many rooftop bars & restaurants popping up all over London, we decided we'd try out a few to see which was our favourite. First up was Restaurant on the Roof with Q at Selfridges, where you can have afternoon tea for £19.50 per person. 

Just be aware that most rooftop bars & restaurants add 12.5% service charge to all bills though that's a discretionary charge - if your service is rubbish, don't be afraid not to pay it. 

The selection on the day was great, the service was good but the views were limited. I loved that they had an SPF selection alongside the condiments for scorching days like the one we chose to pop by. Well played, Selfridges. 

(Sue here, be sure to check out the Charlotte Tilbury counter if you're in Selfridges. SWOONworthy doesn't even begin to cover it, we were thrilled to meet Dublin lass & beauty pal SJ Wai there, killing it!)

Harvey Nichols, Fifth Floor Cafe & Terrace in Knightsbridge 

(Sue here - Oiiiiiiii!!!!!)

As it was such a glorious day we finished up quickly & headed for Harvey Nichols rooftop bar & restaurant. Here the view is much better, a veritable suntrap in central London. Although, again, there's a 12% service charge, prices are a little less expensive than others & the service is fantastic. We will definitely be back to this gem.

Peroni Bar & Sky Lounge at Double Tree Hilton, Tower of London.

Next up was the Double Tree Hilton near the Tower of London. Here you can get an amazing view of both Tower Bridge on one side & the Gherkin on the other (though Sue insisted on calling it The Pickle for the duration). 

Prices here are more expensive than others, with afternoon tea coming in at £25pp but with a view like that it’s worth it! The service was great & it’s definitely on our list for a return visit when the surrounding works are finished.

Vista Bar at The Trafalgar, London.

We actually left The Trafalgar, just off Trafalgar Square, without sitting down as the attitude of one staff member was horrendous. We decided to spend our money elsewhere with better service & by the looks of it, a lot of others did the same. Only a couple of tables were in use. 

Also, just to be aware, there's a cover charge of £5 to go up after 4pm - basically you pay them so that you can give them your money? Yeah, no. 

Whole Foods Market, Kensington.

We’re moving in!! We found our new happy place in Whole Foods Market on Kensington High Street . The selection was vast & so fresh. The colours & smells were amazing. The prices? Were actually quite good, though we had heard horror stories. 

Truth be told, they're on a par with Irish supermarkets - yes, we are ripped off here. I loved the vast cookie bar for only 50p each & artisan breads, baked in store, starting at just a couple of pound. If I lived near here I’d be shopping in Whole Foods morning, noon & night.

The West End

We took in a show at the Apollo (Let The Right One In) while we were there but Jeez Louise I’d love to know who writes these amazing reviews. We, along with half the theatre, left at the interval as we were just too polite to walk out in the middle of a scene. As Jane (@BritBeautyBlog) noted, it was like being made to watch a really poor school play and Sue chimed in 'and our kids aren't even in it!'

Next time I’m picking the show CherrySue!! 

All was not lost though as we went just around the corner to the gorgeous Ham Yard and had a Moscato night cap out in the balmy London air.

Free walking tours of London (make sure to have your walking shoes!)

We finished our last day in London with a free walking tour, we've done them in most other European cities & they're a great way to get to know a City & its history. We took in Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St James’ Park, Buckingham Palace & Trafalgar Square on the 2 & 1/2 hour walk. 

Our Aussie tour guide, Linton, was great craic & told us a few funny stories along the way. He also gave a few tips for London on a budget. For instance: instead of paying £18pp to see Westminster Abbey wait until 5pm mass everyday & it’s free in and you also get to hear the world famous Westminster Boys Choir perform. Bargain!

Also wait till just after 6pm & go to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square to get cheap West End tickets. Though there are scouts and touts citywide, all of the unsold tickets everyday go back to TKTS, so you're sure to find a genuine deal. 

Hey kids, it’s Big Ben!

Even with all that flitting about we still found time for a few meet & greets with some of the UK’s loveliest bloggers & brands. What can I say, London other than we heard your calling and we will be back...yet again!

Have you been to London? 

What are your top tips for getting the most out of the City?

Psst Check out
some extra photos 
here too!